Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Reliance Steel announces antitrust lawsuit verdict in plaintiff's favorReliance Steel & Aluminum announced that a Houston, Texas jury returned a verdict against the Company and its subsidiary, Chapel Steel, along with four other co-defendants in an antitrust lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. As discussed in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ending December 31, 2013 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Reliance has been involved in legal proceedings brought by two former employees who left the company to start their own business and claim that Reliance and the co-defendants engaged in anticompetitive activities. The jury returned a verdict against all six defendants jointly of $52M in damages, which amount is expected to be trebled under the federal antitrust laws. Reliance and Chapel disagree with the verdict and intend to pursue all available remedies, including taking the matter up on appeal. The ultimate amount of any final judgment that Reliance may be required to bear is unknown at this time.

Reliance Steel has reached attractive entry point, says Wells FargoAfter Reliance Steel reported results that Wells Fargo views as disappointing, the firm nonetheless says that the shares are "too cheap to ignore." The firm thinks the stock has reached an attractive entry point for long-term investors, and it keeps an Outperform rating on the shares.

Reliance Steel upgraded at KeyBancAs previously reported, KeyBanc upgraded Reliance Steel to Buy from Hold. Following yesterday's earnings report, the firm believes Reliance is near a trough in the earnings cycle, has compelling free-cash-flow to support accretive capital deployments, and has one of the strongest managements in the industry. Price target is $66.

Reliance Steel sees Q1 adjusted EPS $1.00-$1.10, consensus $1.32Reliance expects the U.S. economy to continue to improve throughout 2015. Despite current pressure on the portion of Reliance's business directly servicing the energy market, estimated at about 8% to 10% of total sales, lower fuel prices and energy costs are expected to drive improvement in overall U.S. demand. The historically high levels of metal being imported into the U.S. are expected to continue given the strong U.S. dollar and weaker economies in other parts of the world, which will continue to put downward pressure on steel prices. Due to normal seasonal trends, as well as the improving demand environment, Reliance expects higher tons sold in Q1 vs. 4Q14, but lower average selling prices and margins.